Quickly Lest My Cup Run Dry
by Random Guise
Summary: Based on the 1972 film "The Mechanic" with Charles Bronson. Arthur Bishop is a mechanic, a professional hit-man. The original film has him dying at the end, but that's not quite the way it worked out according to this one-shot. I don't own these characters, but I have killed - mosquitoes in my house.


**A/N: An extra scene to the end of the movie "The Mechanic" (1972).**

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Quickly Lest My Cup Run Dry

Arthur Bishop relaxed as the airliner reached cruising altitude over the Atlantic. His seatbelt already off, he leaned his chair back slightly and winced from the abdominal pain that still was fading. He wasn't immune from the effects of Brucine poisoning, but fortunately he hadn't gotten a full dose.

But Steve McKenna didn't know that. Smug about the manner in which he had set up Arthur to die, he did _almost_ everything right. But Arthur had warned him details were important if you were what was known as a Mechanic; if you were going to poison a man, you had to make sure he got enough of it and you made damn sure he was dead afterward. Had Steve just kept a straight face then Arthur would probably have drained his whole glass of Casa de Fiore; but Steve had to start bragging about Arthur's imminent death and just how perfectly he had performed it.

There was a performance all right, but you needed one gram of Brucine to kill a man and when Arthur stopped drinking he had come up far short of the fatal amount. The terrible pain and spasms weren't faked, but he had the presence of mind to finish acting out the death thralls while Steve blabbed on about his execution. Good thing Arthur had been wary; there was something about the whole setup that didn't make sense and finding those papers of Steve's in a drawer at home only led to his suspicions. If you're going to be a good assassin, a _really_ good assassin, you had to be as aware of threats to your own mortality as you were aware of your victim's.

"Would you like a glass of wine, sir?" the stewardess asked.

"No thanks, I'm trying to cut down" Arthur answered with an ironic smile.

And most of all, you had to learn to trust no one. You didn't get friendly with superiors, you didn't make friends so much as acquaintances, and you _definitely_ didn't trust someone who could take over your job. It was safer that way. And as he stared out the window at the ocean that appeared between clouds, he thought back on another experience with water that taught him the lesson.

He had been seven or eight years old when he, his father David and Steve's father Harry had gone fishing in Canada. Arthur had leaned over the edge of the fishing boat too far and fallen into the lake. As he floundered and gulped water, his father had sat in the boat laughing and saying "he'd figure it out" or drown. Finally, Harry had enough and pulled him from the water to deposit him on the floor of the boat, almost like a fish with a heap of wet clothes and hair. Both men laughed, but Arthur never said a word, hurting and seething at the same time; that day he learned you couldn't trust family either.

...

At the airport he hailed a cab and took it back to his multi-story house. As it pulled up the curved drive, he had the cab stop short as he spied a strange vehicle in front of his garage. Behind it, a badly burned and pitted spot marked where Steve's car had been parked, although what remained after the explosion had been picked up and removed after the investigation. In the event that he was double-crossed, Arthur had booby-trapped the car with the intent to disarm it if everything had gone fine - which it certainly hadn't. With bag in hand, Arthur walked up to the burned area as a man approached from the other side.

"What the hell happened to my driveway?" Arthur asked the man, feigning ignorance.

"Mr. Bishop?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I'm Norm Selland and I'm the investigator for Blanket Insurance. Have you been away recently?"

"Yeah, I just got back from spending a week in Italy. Where's Steve? He was supposed to get back before I did." Arthur looked around and toward the windows on the second floor.

Norm checked his notes. "That would be Steve McKenna?"

"That's him. We were on a business trip in Naples, but the other guy we were supposed to meet never showed up. I stayed for a few days while Steve flew back. Is he here?"

"Mr. Bishop, we have reason to believe that Steve McKenna was killed in a car bombing. As you can see, it happened on this spot. Some of the house facing the drive has been burned on the exterior, but the fire crews were able to keep it from spreading beyond the front wall. Do you know anyone who would want to kill Mr. McKenna, sir?"

"I think he said his father had some questionable connections but he died a few months ago; I think most of his friends were just like hippies and beach bums. I met them once at his house, but they were just wild kids; I don't think any of them were dangerous. Are you sure he was killed?"

"Positive ID on the body, or what was left of it."

"Such a tragedy; he was a bright young man."

"Yes, but maybe there was something related to his father's past business. Thank you, Mr. Bishop. The police would like to talk to you at your earliest convenience, and the fire Marshall requests you stay away from the area that's taped off; there might be structural weakness from the fire but we won't know for sure until your agent can arrange for a contractor to come in and inspect it more closely. Here's my card if you come across anything helpful" Norm said as he handed Arthur his card.

"Thank you, Mr. Selland. Is the roof okay?"

"Shouldn't be a problem - I don't think the flames got up that high."

"Good. I heard it might rain in a few days" he said as he waved and walked around the burned area before climbing the stairs into his house. He paused part way up and shouted "Is my insurance going to pay for that driveway too?"

"It's covered as well; you're still responsible for whatever deductible your policy has."

"Good; I'll go call my agent now. Thank you Mr. Selland" Arthur said as he disappeared up the stairs. Out of force of habit he checked all his rooms before finally relaxing. It definitely paid not get too comfortable.

The End

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**A/N: The movie seemed to have more of an ending shaped by the Hayes code than anything; he may have been a killer but I wanted Bronson to come out on top and maybe retire. Now he has a chance. Maybe he can settle down with that nice Jill lady.**


End file.
